Western European in the context of European colonization of Africa

The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, conquest, and colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers driven by the Second Industrial Revolution during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the era of "New Imperialism". Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom were the contending powers.

In 1870, 10% of the continent was formally under European control. By 1914, this figure had risen to almost 90%; the only states retaining sovereignty were Liberia, Ethiopia, Egba, Aussa, Senusiyya, Mbunda, Ogaden/Haud, the Dervish State, the Darfur Sultanate, and the Ovambo kingdoms, most of which were later conquered.

White Ruthenia (Belarusian: Белая Русь, romanized: Biełaja Ruś; Polish: Ruś Biała; Russian: Белая Русь, romanized: Belaya Rus'; Ukrainian: Біла Русь, romanized: Bila Ruś; Yiddish: רייסן, romanized: Raysn) is one of the historical divisions of Kievan Rus' according to the color scheme, which also includes Black and Red Ruthenia. In the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, the name White Ruthenia was characterized by instability, designating a number of different regions on the territory of modern Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. It is recorded mainly in Western European sources, starting from the middle of the 13th century.

Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of World War II. It primarily refers to the United States and the United Kingdom, and sometimes France, with the exclusion of the Soviet Union in the context of the European theatre of World War II. Western Allies has also been used more broadly to include lesser Allied countries from the British Commonwealth such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and some Western European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway.

The concept of Western Allies is usually used to denote the major differences between the "Western" Allies (capitalist and liberal democratic) and the Soviet Union (communist and totalitarian). The cooperation between individual Western Allies powers (such as exchange of military intelligence) was much more intensive than that between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. Cooperation became more significant in later stages of the war (e.g. the Teheran Conference). Nonetheless, the tensions remained high, with Western Allies and Soviet Union considering one another a threat, and drawing contingency plans for a war against one another (e.g. Operation Unthinkable, Plan Totality); these tensions developed into the Cold War that lasted decades after the World War II ended. In Allied-occupied Germany and Austria, the term Western Allies referred to the occupation zones of the United States, United Kingdom, and France, in contrast to the Soviet occupation zones.

After World War II, emigration restrictions were imposed by countries in the Eastern Bloc, which consisted of the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe. Legal emigration was in most cases only possible to reunite families or to allow members of minority ethnic groups to return to their homelands.

Eastern Bloc governments argued that strict limits to emigration were necessary to prevent a brain drain. The United States and Western European governments argued that they represented a violation of human rights. Despite the restrictions, defections to the West occurred.

Gligvi (Georgian: ღლიღვი, romanized: ghlighvi) is a medieval ethnonym used in Georgian, Russian and Western European sources in the 11-19 centuries. The ethnonym corresponds to the self-name of the Ingush, Ghalghaï.

Westernizers (/ˈzɑːpɑːdnɪk/; Russian: за́падник, romanized: západnik, IPA: [ˈzapədnʲɪk]) were a group of 19th-century intellectuals who believed that Russia's development depended upon the adoption of Western European technology and liberal government. In their view, Western ideas such as industrialisation needed to be implemented throughout Russia to make it a more successful country. The Russian term was зáпадничество (západnichestvo, "westernism"), and its adherents were known as the за́падники (západniki, "westernists").

In some contexts of Russian history, zapadnichestvo can be contrasted with Slavophilia, whose proponents argued that Russia should develop its own unique identity and culture, based on its Slavic heritage.